DK: A fine prospect, but a brutally botched process
Two statements I believe are totally true:
1. Max Iheanachor might well wind up a wonderful prospect for the Steelers.
2. My God, they brutally botched the process of selecting their first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and this on the grandest possible local stage right here in front of 300,000-plus football fans packed onto our North Shore and Downtown on this otherwise thrilling Thursday night.
Think about it from both perspectives, as if they're on parallel tracks.
Iheanachor, 22, a native of Nigeria, has barely three years of experience in the sport, having logged 32 games for Arizona State, all at right tackle. But he's beyond blessed when it comes to raw material at 6 feet 6, 321 pounds, with 33 7/8-inch arms and exceptional athleticism for such a frame.
Even if it takes a while to be ready for the NFL, it sure sounds like he could be worth the wait.
My position's clear on that much?
OK, cool. So ... uh, sit down for the rest.
To start, Iheanachor was NOT the player Omar Khan had hoped to select. That's known because Khan, for some reason, had been on the phone with Makai Lemon, a wide receiver out of USC, as the Cowboys were nearing their own selection at No. 20, just before the Steelers at No. 21. So sure, apparently, was Khan that the Cowboys would prefer defense that he called the kid before it was the Steelers' turn on the clock.
Enter the villain.
The Eagles also coveted Lemon, with an even greater need at wide receiver and, unlike Khan, they didn't assume or take anything for granted. Howie Roseman, their razor-sharp general manager, instead got on the phone with his Dallas counterparts to arrange a multifaceted trade that allowed Philadelphia to one-up Pittsburgh and get their guy.
Making matters worse, Khan being on the phone with Lemon -- who was in the green room near Acrisure Stadium -- almost immediately went public.
Lemon: "Pittsburgh called me and I thought they were going to draft me. Then the Eagles called at the same time. I guess it was meant to be. I'm super excited to be in Philly."
Roseman: "We felt like this was a player we wanted to go up and get, just based on where our board was at that time, where we're picking. Obviously, when you have a player that you like that's ranked higher on your board than where you're picking, you think at every pick that he's going to be selected. It's just the way the draft is, that everyone's thinking the way that you are. Certainly for us, we didn't want to sit on our hands. We wanted to go get him. So, that's why I made the trade."
Imagine.
The pain wouldn't stop there. The Eagles went full-troll on the Steelers, tying in this thrashing with the one currently being administered on the ice between the cities:
And arguably most embarrassing of all, within minutes of Khan making the pick at the Steelers' headquarters on the South Side, he and Mike McCarthy would emerge to face the media, and Khan spoke the following when asked by a reporter what kind of trade options he might've had: "I mentioned the other day, we field calls, we all talk. There were some opportunities to move up. There were opportunities to move back. We just didn't want to trade away from this player. It just felt good."
It did?
Good enough to phone-tag Lemon?
It's important to note that none of the media on hand on the South Side could've known while Khan and McCarthy were speaking what'd soon emerge from the Philadelphia perspective. That began with an NFL Network tweet later, while Iheanachor was on a conference call with the media on the South Side.
If it'd been known while Khan was still available, I'm sure the line of questioning would've been devastatingly different than what it was.
Chief among them, I'd bet: How does an experienced NFL general manager, one who acknowledges he's got the assets and willingness to move up, bypass the opportunity to inch up a SINGLE SPOT to get who they actually wanted in the most important round? And within that, how could he not take into account the Cowboys engaging in trade talks of their own?
Those questions will still follow. From people in my line of work and from the fan base. And they should. This was an embarrassment in the most literal sense.
I'll stress anew, though: I'm leaving the young man out of it. It's OK to hope Iheanachor matures into a magnificent NFL lineman, while at the same time casting a skeptical eye on how he arrived here.
• What a scene. What a day. I'll never forget it:
GETTY
GETTY
GETTY
Impossible to fathom that there are still two full days ahead. But bring it on.
• I'm not into attendance figures for events like these, and I'm even less into the NFL being the ones doing that reporting, but the league announced that an all-time record 320,000 turned out for Day 1. And it's known that the entrances to the stage area on the North Shore had to be closed for fear of overcrowding, just as the entrances earlier into the Point State Park activities were overflowing onto Liberty Avenue.
What dummy doubted that this'd happen in Pittsburgh?
• I wouldn't be me if I didn't add that there wasn't a single safety issue. (Insert shrug emoji.)
• Our Matt Williamson totally called this pick ... and he LOVES it:
• Our Chris Halicke has a special-edition Chalk Talk on this, as well.
• I'll promise patience with Iheanachor, just as I'll pledge to delve deeper into his history, but for now I find this to be plenty impressive:
Max Iheanachor, born and raised in Nigeria, began his football career at East Los Angeles College before transferring to Arizona State, and the rest is history.
The next step of his journey takes him to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he will begin his NFL career ❤️ pic.twitter.com/83RzHSTAHS
I'll also predict he'll have a friend in his new environs in Esezi Otomewu, another proud Nigerian on the Steelers' roster. It won't hurt, for sure.
• Where might Iheanachor start?
Khan acknowledged that he's been solely at right tackle, and that he'll stay there for now. But added that the Steelers now have "lots of options" on the offensive line when asked specifically about Troy Fautanu, the incumbent starter at right tackle. So maybe someone's bumped inside to guard, even Fautanu.
• Not going to lie, though, that I'm always disappointed when the first round's invested into a position that's not of need. And it's not. Even if Broderick Jones' injury lingers. Khan would say to the latter: "It's a little bit of a concern" before adding that Jones, too, could move.
• For the record, wide receivers who were still available to the Steelers at No. 21 (after they got off the phone with Lemon): Texas A&M's KC Conception went to the Browns at No. 24, Indiana's Omar Cooper went to the Jets at No. 30, and Washington's Denzel Boston will have to wait till Day 2.
• So Alabama's Ty Simpson, per most analysts, wasn't good enough to be part of the Steelers' quarterback mix ... but he's good enough for Sean McVay and the Rams at No. 13 overall? Does anyone really wonder how that storyline will turn out?
• Olaivavega Ioane, the Penn State guard the Steelers genuinely liked, went to the Ravens with the very next pick, as most had expected. Not sure he'd have been worth the move up it would've required to top Baltimore on this.
• I'd be fine if the Steelers picked another Penn State player on Day 2: Drew Allar.
Hey, if rawness is acceptable at right tackle, why not at the most important position?
• They had picks to spare, a dozen to spread over seven rounds. They had the player they plainly wanted. But they fell asleep on the process.
If anyone's OK with that, hey, go nuts.
I'd be calling my chief football executive into the office the next morning for an explanation.
• Appreciate everyone reading my football coverage. Especially appreciate the many, many of you who were kind enough to stop by 224 Fifth Avenue, Downtown, for what wound up a record day for our retail component by almost double.
If you're around for Days 2 or 3, by all means, stop and say hello!
THE ASYLUM
DK: A fine prospect, but a brutally botched process
Two statements I believe are totally true:
1. Max Iheanachor might well wind up a wonderful prospect for the Steelers.
2. My God, they brutally botched the process of selecting their first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and this on the grandest possible local stage right here in front of 300,000-plus football fans packed onto our North Shore and Downtown on this otherwise thrilling Thursday night.
Think about it from both perspectives, as if they're on parallel tracks.
Iheanachor, 22, a native of Nigeria, has barely three years of experience in the sport, having logged 32 games for Arizona State, all at right tackle. But he's beyond blessed when it comes to raw material at 6 feet 6, 321 pounds, with 33 7/8-inch arms and exceptional athleticism for such a frame.
Even if it takes a while to be ready for the NFL, it sure sounds like he could be worth the wait.
My position's clear on that much?
OK, cool. So ... uh, sit down for the rest.
To start, Iheanachor was NOT the player Omar Khan had hoped to select. That's known because Khan, for some reason, had been on the phone with Makai Lemon, a wide receiver out of USC, as the Cowboys were nearing their own selection at No. 20, just before the Steelers at No. 21. So sure, apparently, was Khan that the Cowboys would prefer defense that he called the kid before it was the Steelers' turn on the clock.
Enter the villain.
The Eagles also coveted Lemon, with an even greater need at wide receiver and, unlike Khan, they didn't assume or take anything for granted. Howie Roseman, their razor-sharp general manager, instead got on the phone with his Dallas counterparts to arrange a multifaceted trade that allowed Philadelphia to one-up Pittsburgh and get their guy.
Making matters worse, Khan being on the phone with Lemon -- who was in the green room near Acrisure Stadium -- almost immediately went public.
Lemon: "Pittsburgh called me and I thought they were going to draft me. Then the Eagles called at the same time. I guess it was meant to be. I'm super excited to be in Philly."
Roseman: "We felt like this was a player we wanted to go up and get, just based on where our board was at that time, where we're picking. Obviously, when you have a player that you like that's ranked higher on your board than where you're picking, you think at every pick that he's going to be selected. It's just the way the draft is, that everyone's thinking the way that you are. Certainly for us, we didn't want to sit on our hands. We wanted to go get him. So, that's why I made the trade."
Imagine.
The pain wouldn't stop there. The Eagles went full-troll on the Steelers, tying in this thrashing with the one currently being administered on the ice between the cities:
Oh, uncle already.
And arguably most embarrassing of all, within minutes of Khan making the pick at the Steelers' headquarters on the South Side, he and Mike McCarthy would emerge to face the media, and Khan spoke the following when asked by a reporter what kind of trade options he might've had: "I mentioned the other day, we field calls, we all talk. There were some opportunities to move up. There were opportunities to move back. We just didn't want to trade away from this player. It just felt good."
It did?
Good enough to phone-tag Lemon?
It's important to note that none of the media on hand on the South Side could've known while Khan and McCarthy were speaking what'd soon emerge from the Philadelphia perspective. That began with an NFL Network tweet later, while Iheanachor was on a conference call with the media on the South Side.
If it'd been known while Khan was still available, I'm sure the line of questioning would've been devastatingly different than what it was.
Chief among them, I'd bet: How does an experienced NFL general manager, one who acknowledges he's got the assets and willingness to move up, bypass the opportunity to inch up a SINGLE SPOT to get who they actually wanted in the most important round? And within that, how could he not take into account the Cowboys engaging in trade talks of their own?
Those questions will still follow. From people in my line of work and from the fan base. And they should. This was an embarrassment in the most literal sense.
I'll stress anew, though: I'm leaving the young man out of it. It's OK to hope Iheanachor matures into a magnificent NFL lineman, while at the same time casting a skeptical eye on how he arrived here.
• What a scene. What a day. I'll never forget it:
GETTY
GETTY
GETTY
Impossible to fathom that there are still two full days ahead. But bring it on.
• I'm not into attendance figures for events like these, and I'm even less into the NFL being the ones doing that reporting, but the league announced that an all-time record 320,000 turned out for Day 1. And it's known that the entrances to the stage area on the North Shore had to be closed for fear of overcrowding, just as the entrances earlier into the Point State Park activities were overflowing onto Liberty Avenue.
What dummy doubted that this'd happen in Pittsburgh?
• I wouldn't be me if I didn't add that there wasn't a single safety issue. (Insert shrug emoji.)
• Our Matt Williamson totally called this pick ... and he LOVES it:
• Our Chris Halicke has a special-edition Chalk Talk on this, as well.
• I'll promise patience with Iheanachor, just as I'll pledge to delve deeper into his history, but for now I find this to be plenty impressive:
I'll also predict he'll have a friend in his new environs in Esezi Otomewu, another proud Nigerian on the Steelers' roster. It won't hurt, for sure.
• Where might Iheanachor start?
Khan acknowledged that he's been solely at right tackle, and that he'll stay there for now. But added that the Steelers now have "lots of options" on the offensive line when asked specifically about Troy Fautanu, the incumbent starter at right tackle. So maybe someone's bumped inside to guard, even Fautanu.
• Not going to lie, though, that I'm always disappointed when the first round's invested into a position that's not of need. And it's not. Even if Broderick Jones' injury lingers. Khan would say to the latter: "It's a little bit of a concern" before adding that Jones, too, could move.
• For the record, wide receivers who were still available to the Steelers at No. 21 (after they got off the phone with Lemon): Texas A&M's KC Conception went to the Browns at No. 24, Indiana's Omar Cooper went to the Jets at No. 30, and Washington's Denzel Boston will have to wait till Day 2.
• So Alabama's Ty Simpson, per most analysts, wasn't good enough to be part of the Steelers' quarterback mix ... but he's good enough for Sean McVay and the Rams at No. 13 overall? Does anyone really wonder how that storyline will turn out?
• Olaivavega Ioane, the Penn State guard the Steelers genuinely liked, went to the Ravens with the very next pick, as most had expected. Not sure he'd have been worth the move up it would've required to top Baltimore on this.
• I'd be fine if the Steelers picked another Penn State player on Day 2: Drew Allar.
Hey, if rawness is acceptable at right tackle, why not at the most important position?
• They had picks to spare, a dozen to spread over seven rounds. They had the player they plainly wanted. But they fell asleep on the process.
If anyone's OK with that, hey, go nuts.
I'd be calling my chief football executive into the office the next morning for an explanation.
• Appreciate everyone reading my football coverage. Especially appreciate the many, many of you who were kind enough to stop by 224 Fifth Avenue, Downtown, for what wound up a record day for our retail component by almost double.
If you're around for Days 2 or 3, by all means, stop and say hello!
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